Politics

zzz (on hiatus)

Update: Here’s the Compliant against Judge Edith Jones. In addition to raising issues from her talk at the University of Pennsylvania, it raises the time she told her Fifth Circuit colleague Judge James Dennis to shut up. The exhibits aren’t included with the PDF i posted, but if you want to here the minute-plus exchange between Judges Jones and Dennis, it’s here. The tape is better than any transcript would be.

The Austin Chronicle is reporting an ethics complaint filed against Fifth Circuit judge Edith Jones for remarks at a University of Pennsylvania School of Law talk billed as “Federal Death Penalty Review with Judge Edith Jones.”

Those who are familiar with the topic probably thought on reading the title: Well, that’s going to be a short talk.”

The Chronicle writes:

A complaint filed today by several civil rights groups, including one funded entirely by the government of Mexico, alleges that federal Judge Edith Jones has violated her duty to be impartial and damaged the public’s confidence in the judiciary, in statements she made in a public lecture – including that blacks and Hispanics are more violent.

Indeed, Jones also said that a death sentence provides a public service by allowing an inmate to “make peace with God.”

Jones, who sits on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals – based in New Orleans, its jurisdiction includes Texas – made numerous offensive and biased comments during a February lecture at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, according to the complaint filed pursuant to the federal Judicial Conduct and Disability Act. The complaint, filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project, Austin NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens(LULAC), and the Mexican Capital Legal Assistance Program (among others) alleges that during her talk – billed as “Federal Death Penalty Review with Judge Edith Jones (5th Cir.)” – Jones violated a number of canons of the code of conduct for federal judges.